Bob Froese: His Story

When Bob Froese's junior career ended, you would have had a hard time convincing him he'd be one of the better goalies in the NHL in the 1980s. From 1974 through 1978 Froese toiled with some bad junior teams in St. Catherines, Oshawa and Niagara Falls. He was drafted in the 11th round, 160th overall by the St Louis Blues. It is rare that a late pick blossoms like Froese did.

Froese never got a chance in St. Louis. He was apparently drafted to fill a minor league position in the Blues depth chart. He played in the lowly IHL and was released from the Blues organization in the summer of 1981.

The Blues loss was the Flyers gain as they signed him as an unrestricted free agent. He reported to minor league Hershey of the AHL but before long was called up to the Flyers. He had a strong rookie season as a backup netminder. He had a 17-4-2 record with 4 shutouts and a 2.52 GAA. Almost out of nowhere, Froese was now in the NHL to stay.

Here's the full Bob Froese story.